At the word, "go," I took 2 or 3 steps and then dove right in. I had a surprisingly good swim. With my performance of late, I had simply been hoping for under 20 minutes. But my new revelations seem to have led to better swimming and overall better times. I sighted a lot because the water was so murky it was near impossible to see anything...even feet from the people in front of me. Swam until my hand sank into the muck and then trotted out.

Warm up so I can get a better start.

You would think I had a wetsuit on...I always suck at HoD transitions. It's a point-to-point race and they use the racks that you stick your wheel in, which I struggle with for some reason. Also, my new bike shoes are a little more difficult to slip into (no, not tri shoes), but I like them, so I will have to deal with it. Then, we had to lift our bikes up over the curb and run up the grass to get on the road. That was a new twist.

Practice more and get faster.

I love this ride. Every time I've done it, it's been a fast one for me...even when I fell apart 2 years ago. But, the bottom line is I need to break into the 20 mph range to move up the ranks. This year, I used my race wheels (I am skeered of them)...Spynergy on the front and Zipp disc on the back. What a difference they make in how the bike rides. Smooooth. The noise from the disc kept me thinking someone was right behind me. Oh yeah...and I dropped my water bottle not even 2 minutes into the ride. Doh. I still had Gatorade, but probably didn't get quite enough fluid. I felt very in control the whole ride...pushing it, but not to the edge. However, when I got off, I could hardly walk, much less run to transition. Apparently, I pushed a little harder than I thought.

Not drop my water bottle, but other than that, nothing.

Like I said...suck, suck at HoD transitions. I cannot figure out the darn racks. But first, I have to reach in and pull out my bag with my running shoes, then try to rack the bike. Front wheel? No. Back Wheel. Aargh. Hubby finally comes over and just takes it from me (because it's point-to-point, a lot of people are in transition picking up bikes for athletes before heading to the finish line). Cute little side note: as Hubby put my bike aside so he could grab my shoes and helmet, a couple of the volunteers were oohing and aahing over my custom paint job.The bike looks sharp, especially with race wheels. They asked him if I was a "sponsored" athlete. Ha!

Just get it right.

If I hadn't let myself fall apart on the run, I would have placed. The next person in front of me was a mere 30 seconds faster (first in our AG moved up to overall). I started out just fine and had a nice pace. Comfortable. But the hills destroyed my already tired legs and I ended up walking a lot more than I should have.

HTFU and keep running.

Walking around and getting as much fluid in me as possible. I was thirsty!


Cumulative affects of IM training (I had a very hard weekend 1 week before the race). Heat. And my own attitude...need to just run.